High court pans pre-dawn police visits in pot case

GRAND RAPIDS (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court says the rights of two jail officers were violated during pre-dawn visits to their homes.

Todd VanDoorne and Michael Frederick were charged with having marijuana butter, although a Grand Rapids-area drug team didn’t have a search warrant in 2014.

In a recent unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court says police were trespassing with their early morning visits, which turned into searches.

The court is sending the case back to a Kent County judge to determine whether the searches still can stand under the circumstances.

VanDoorne and Frederick said they felt compelled to cooperate because they’re officers, too. They had medical marijuana cards at the time, but prosecutors said they still violated the law.